Clockwork & Lace

I turn the key beneath the floor, Wind the night a little more. Every tick obeys my breath, Beauty balanced close to death. Each motion measured, perfect line, Steel and velvet both are mine. Your heartbeat joins the motor’s spin, The dance begins... I draw you in. Step by step, you’re wound too tight, Seconds blur into my light. I move like time, a clockwork queen, Draped in lace and midnight sheen. Your strings are silk within my hand, You’ll move exactly as I planned. Glass eyes watch from shadowed rows, Porcelain smiles the room bestows. I built them all to guard my throne, You breathe my air, but not alone. Winding, binding, hearts in place, Caught inside my clockwork grace. Freedom whispers, soft, absurd... I rewrite the final word. I once was mortal, soft and kind, But gears replaced the heart I signed. Now empathy’s a fragile flaw, Perfection stands as my only law. I move like time, precise embrace, I crown myself in blackest lace. The world revolves to my command, Obey the pulse, obey my hand. Every empire learns decay, Rust will claim my art one day. Still I spin the music’s thread, Until the night forgets the dead. The gears protest, the tempo slows, Cracks appear where rhythm flows. I wind them once, the lights all gleam You hear your name inside the steam. I move like time, a clockwork queen, Draped in lace and midnight sheen. Your strings are silk within my hand, You’ll move exactly as I planned. Another face among the rows, A perfect mask, the secret shows. The gears slow down, the lights grow dim, Welcome, darling... now you spin. [end]